WOMAN’S BODY WITH GUNSHOT WOUNDS IDENTIFIED

A woman whose body was found off a rural road in the Lawrence Welk community north of Escondido was identified Friday as 20-year-old Morayma Denise Rodriguez.

The Escondido woman died of multiple gunshot wounds, the county Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Her body was discovered Wednesday about 1:15 p.m. lying face down on the side of Lawrence Welk Court, west of Interstate 15.

Sheriff’s homicide Lt. Larry Nesbit declined to release further information about the killing, including whether investigators have identified a motive or a suspect in the case.

DEBBI BAKER • U-T

Dirty, disheveled man follows girl, 11, on trail near school

Poway

A dirty, scruffy man appeared suddenly along a brushy trail near an 11-year-old girl who was walking to Meadowbrook Middle School early Friday, sheriff’s officials said.

The girl then ran on the trail south of the football field, near the eastern dead end of Meadowbrook Lane. She reported the incident about 7:30 a.m., sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Jenkins said.

The girl told deputies that the man followed her for a short distance. She described him as white, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a light brown-and-gray scruffy beard and bloodshot eyes.

Deputies, detectives and a helicopter crew searched for the man.

Pauline Repard • U-T

Animal cruelty charges filed in the death of a Chihuahua

el cajon

A 23-year-old El Cajon man was arrested Thursday on felony animal cruelty charges in the death of a 4-year-old Chihuahua.

Troy Anthony Hilliard is accused of kicking the dog after it wandered into the courtyard of an apartment complex on East Lexington Avenue on Jan. 11, El Cajon police Lt. Steve Shakowski said.

Hilliard lives in a neighboring complex, Shakowski said.

Debbi Baker • U-T

Victim of crash in Coronado worked for the Postal Service

Coronado

A motorist who died in a car crash along the Silver Strand in Coronado Thursday night has been identified as a Postal Service employee, authorities said Friday.

Donn Alexander Sterling, 62, of San Diego worked at the Coronado Post Office, the county Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Sterling lost control of the Honda he was driving, and it went down an embankment and landed on its side at Fiddler’s Cove Marina.

Pauline Repard • U-T

Man, 71, arrested, suspected of lewd acts with a child

CHULA VISTA

A 71-year-old Chula Vista man was a arrested Friday on suspicion of lewd acts with a child, authorities said.

Thomas Garrett was taken into custody by detectives from the Chula Vista Police Department’s Family Protection Unit on a warrant stemming from accusations of a woman involving her daughter, said Chula Vista Acting police Capt. Lon Turner.

Garrett, former commodore of the Coronado Yacht Club, was booked into the San Diego Central jail on three felony counts of lewd acts with a child under age 14, according to jail records. According to documents filed in San Diego Superior Court obtained by 10News, the alleged incidents occurred at Garrett’s home and were reported last year. 10News is a media partner of U-T San Diego.

Garrett served as commodore from December 2009 until November 2010 “in an honorable and respectable manner,” current commodore Wayne Strickland said in a statement.

“This is a tragic situation for all parties involved; we are looking forward to the legal system properly resolving this issue,” Strickland said.

Garrett also is a founder of an annual Coronado race that raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, according to the Coronado Eagle & Journal.